Well I didn’t see this coming. Hardaway has kicked it up a couple notches since last rankings. He’s still inconsistent but in addition to scoring he’s been rebounding and assisting at an impressive rate.

The Mecca has been rocking of late with some impressive Knick performances, even the heart breaking come back loss handed to them by Cleveland was great to watch. Porzingis’s down tick in shooting percentage has gone unnoticed with Tim Hardaway Jr coming out party, highlighted by the dagger three at the end of the Utah game on Wednesday, a week after scoring 38 points against Toronto at MSG. Production from other role plays has also been important in jumping out to a good start. Lee, O’Quinn, Jack and Thomas have all been better than expectations at the beginning of the season.

So, what’s next for this gritty new Knicks team? In this unpredictable Eastern conference, it is too easy to fantasize about playoff basketball, and the Knicks will have to continue to improve to make it there.

The triangle is out of sight and out of mind. Horneck has been given full control of the
offense and now the offense is going to run. Unsurprisingly (given the Knicks personnel) they have managed to create an identity as a team that can run in transition, ranking in the top 10 in points added through transition (per 100 possessions). Getting out in transition is one thing but the Knicks have also remained efficient ranking 7th in transition points scored (per 100 transition plays), and 12th at finishing at the rim.

The numbers illustrate how the Knicks are trying to play, however to be successful against the better teams they will need to emphasis transition opportunities more often. We have seen New York resort to iso situations even off a steal, which slows the offense down and lets the opposing defense set up.

Another warning sign that the offense maybe struggling more than it seems is the inability to turn steals into transition points. So far, this year the Knicks rank 27th in transition points added through steals. This combined with the efficiency or lack of the Knicks are showing in transition is a worrying sign for the 10-7 New York squad.

Defensively, the Knicks have been dramatically up and down. Just over a week ago Kyle
Korver highlighted the main blundering point, defending the three-point line. This weakness was also taken advantage of by the tanking Hawks. The Knicks are one of the worst teams in the league at defending the three-point line, especially from the corners. In a three-point shooting league the team will struggle to make it to the post season without improving their close out defense. Otherwise we may start to see even more games get away from the Knicks like we saw against, Toronto (at Air Canada), Cleveland, and Atlanta.

The Knicks can’t rely on Kristaps through 82 games.

Versus both the Clippers and Raptors this week the Knicks have taken some further baby steps towards consistency. Even more encouraging for the blue and orange is Tim Hardaway Jr’s performances. Offensively the shooting guard has grown into his roll, taking less contested 3-pointers and getting to and finishing at the rim. Hardaway Jr’s performances have meant the Knicks have pulled out wins without completely relying on KP. As the season continues Timmy’s offense will become even more important, and he has to stay aggressive in attacking the rim if the Knicks are serious about staying over .500.

Unbelievably, THJ’s defense has also been worth writing about. Defensively, Hardaway has become more like his team mate Courtney Lee instead of 2015-16 James Harden. Once-upon-a- time, the young shooting guard would reach constantly, and become a turn table when confronted with a driving opponent. Nowadays, NY’s number 3 is moving his feet, muscling over screens, and stealing the ball from lackadaisical ball handlers. Hardaway Jr will never transform into Tony Allen, but if he can remain average on the defensive end the Knicks become a much better team.

Nothing illustrated the Knicks defensive improvements more than the third quarter on
Wednesday night vs division rivals Toronto.

The odds on a top draft pick going to New York at the end of the season just increased after what can only be described as a ‘routine’ loss for the Knicks Saturday night.

Leading by as many as 21 points in the first half, the visiting Pistons were sluggish and
noticeably off their game after coming off a loss to the Wizards the night before. However, a 13-point half time lead quickly became 1 point following a characteristic Knicks collapse in the 3rd quarter, and it wasn’t long before Detroit had the lead in the 4th quarter.

$71m man Tim Hardaway Jr. had a night to forget in front of the Knicks faithful, as he only hit 1 of his first 12 attempts from the field, including 0 of 6 from 3pt range. Blame can fairly be placed on his shoulders, as KP’s 33 points (including 23 in the first half) should’ve been more than enough to see the Knicks to their first win of the season, providing his teammates could produce even a semblance of scoring and defense.

For the team’s second scoring option, Hardaway’s night would’ve looked even worse if it wasn’t for the impressive performances from both Enes Kanter and Kyle O’Quinn, who combined for 32 points and 17 rebounds in around 24 minutes on the floor each. I would argue that apart from Kanter and KOQ, none of the Knicks supporting players had games to remember.

The annual MLK Day Matinee at Madison Square Garden saw the New York Knicks take on the Atlanta Hawks. The Knicks, who showed little effort against Toronto in the previous game, came out fighting against the Hawks. The biggest story from this one was the insertion of Ron Baker and Mindaugus Kuzminskas into the starting lineup, and both of those two delivered. Baker scored 12 points, all three pointers, and Kuz had 14 points. Carmelo Anthony delivered 30 points on an efficient 10/16 shooting, but missed a key put-back at the end of the game. Dennis Schroder scored 28 points for the Hawks, and former Knick Tim Hardaway Jr scored 20 points.

A real positive from this game was that the Knicks actually showed up to play this afternoon, but morale victories aren’t going to make this sting any less. Carmelo, one game after his comments about the rumors of him waiving his no-trade clause, showed up with a #VintageMeloGame and was scoring from all over the court. Three pointers, drives, pull ups, were all working for him today. Offense continues to not be the issue for the New York Knicks.

It’s the porous defense, most notably from the guards, that is killing the Knicks.

On multiple possessions, Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings were letting Dennis Schroder get right into the paint and score at will. Schroder is a solid guard who can score, but he should have to work to get his points. It shouldn’t look like a layup line for him. On the other hand, the Knicks forwards were frustrating Paul Millsap for the entire game, as he scored 17 points on 18 shots. He had 6 assists, but he was constantly taking tough shots, as well as missing a few easy ones.

As for the final play of the game, it doesn’t matter whether Derrick Rose was fouled or not, that isn’t why they lost the game. The Knicks missed 8 free throws throughout the game, and shot 8-26 behind the three point line, which is good for 30%. Also, 18 turnovers for 18 points given up by the Knick offense today, which is too high of a number.

I don’t even want to mention this, but it needs to be said. Kris Humphries had 14 points and 3 three pointers tonight. Yeah, the dude who Kim Kardashian married for like 18 minutes was killing the Knicks in the third quarter. If that isn’t rock bottom, I don’t know what is. Perimeter defense needs to be the subject of every single practice from now until the end of the season, otherwise this thing will never get turned around.

The Knicks take on the Celtics Wednesday night at the Garden on the first game of a back to back, and the third game in four nights. Remember what I said about defense on the perimeter? Well, it’s really going to be a focus when Isaiah Thomas walks onto the Garden floor, because we all know that dude can fill it up.

Keep your heads up everyone, it’s almost time for pitchers and catchers to report. 17-23.

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On the heels of being on the wrong side of the record book, now currently holding the worst start through 20 games (4-16) in franchise history, New York fought a team that was just as desperate as them for a win. The Charlotte Hornets are currently on a ten game losing streak, something that the Hornets could not have envisioned when they added free agent Lance Stephenson this summer to a top defensive squad last season. Instead the Hornets have taken a step backwards, and are now currently in the bottom third in points allowed by opponents, allowing 101.2 points per game.

Carmelo Anthony tried his best to right the ship, playing the whole first quarter. As per usual Anthony has his typical good start to the game, scoring nine points in the opening period. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for his teammates, as the rest of the team shot as cold as the New York winter night 31%.

Bismack Biyombo got inside for easy back to back dunks, giving Charlotte a double digit lead late in the closing minutes of the first quarter 29-18. The Hornets did all their damage inside, outrebounding New York 14 to 6 in the first quarter. Charlotte scored 16 points in the paint, and had nine second chance points. And if the Hornets didn’t score inside, they got fouled attacking the paint, going to the charity stripe nine times in the opening quarter.

With Anthony needing a rest for half of the second quarter, his teammates continued to struggle shooting, only converting on a third of their field goal attempts. The Hornets made another run in the midway through the third quarter, going on a 13-4 run, the Hornets‘ would lead by as many as 21 in the period.

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The New York Knicks lose their fourth straight game Saturday night, losing to the Atlanta Hawks 103-96.

Derek Fisher decided to go small against the Hawks, inserting Tim Hardaway Jr. in to the starting lineup in favor of Jason Smith. The strategical move looked great early on with the increased floor spacing freeing up Carmelo Anthony on offense, whom has struggled early on this season. Anthony started the game off strongly, making his first shot of the game. Anthony played extremely well in the first quarter, almost notching a double-double in the first twelve minutes of play with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Anthony strong start led the way for New York to an early 32-20 first quarter lead.

Curiously Fisher kept Anthony in the game to start the second quarter after playing the whole first quarter. Fisher thought better of it, and pulled him out a one minute into the second quarter. With Anthony on the bench, Atlanta shortly would go on an 8-0 run. By the time Anthony was subbed back into the game mid-way through the second quarter, the Knick’s lead which was at one point 15, was now cut down to one possession 38-35. With Anthony back in the game, the overall energy of the team seemed to have picked up, freeing the other Knicks up to score. New York would finish the quarter strong heading into the half with a 61-48 lead. Continue reading →

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Wednesday night was a battle of ineptitude on offense, with Detroit literally being the worst offensive team in the league, being ranked at the bottom for all offensive statistical categories. New York don’t fare any better, being the second worst in points per game at 88.5 points per game.

It was a strange and ugly game to start. It being a battle between Jason Smith, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, both of whom went perfect from the field, scoring 11 points in the first quarters. Both received little help from their teammates, with each team struggling 42.9% from the field. Caldwell-Pope got a little more help than Smith though with Detroit leading 25-20 after the first quarter.

Knicks who were already extremely short-handed with the injuries to Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon, as well as J.R. Smith serving an suspension (Jason Smith getting the start), the only backup point guard Pablo Prigioni turned his ankle early in the second quarter. Continue reading →

The 5 days off did Melo good as he’s back to the great play we’ve seen most of the season. Melo had the best season of his career and yet misses the playoffs for the first time in his career. Props to Melo for trying until the very end. He could easily have half-assed his way through the last few games and no one would have blamed him.

JR isn’t on the record setting pace he was last week but still hit 8 3’s in the two games on a decent percentage. So what was up with the first 4 months, injury or just mental? I’d say injury but he seemed to instantly get 200% better the day after Woodson sat him for a full game as punishment.